Sci-Fi Survival Series Was An Early Victim Of Netflix And Now My Mom Won’t Forgive Them

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 23 seconds ago

It’s common knowledge that Netflix will pull the plug on shows the moment the almighty algorithm says they’ll make more money by cutting ties now. The most recent victim of this sudden cancellation habit was The Boroughs, a sci-fi mystery series about residents of a retirement community. 10 years ago, Netflix cancelled Between, another sci-fi mystery series about the residents of Pretty Lake after everyone over the age of 22 was killed by a virus. I never knew Between existed until my mother was talking about it, looked up if Netflix canceled it early, found out it ends on a cliffhanger, and immediately became annoyed with the world’s largest streaming service. 

Between Was Cut Short By Netflix

My mom thinks when Netflix cancels a show, whether it’s The Boroughs, Between, 1899, Santa Clarita Diet, or even Mindhunter, the streamer should have a notice on the show’s landing page that it’s incomplete. Let the audience know that the show ends on a cliffhanger and never gets to the proverbial fireworks factory. It should be a scarlet letter of shame for the streamer when they pull the plug before a show finds an audience. 

That said, Between was never going to be a hit on the level of Stranger Things or You, two shows that the streamer allowed to reach an ending. Between follows the kids of Pretty Lake after a virus kills everyone over 22 and they are trapped in a quarantine zone. It’s Under the Dome if it was a Canadian CW show, and the only highlight is Jeanette McCurdy as pregnant teen Wiley. It’s not a great show, but there’s also been a lot worse in the ensuing decade, and I can’t help but think it was a few years too early. 

Between was able to air two seasons of six episodes each, and while it technically was never canceled, it was dropped after the Season 2 finale in 2016 without anything as simple as a press release. If nothing else, it was a small hit in Canada, pulling in over 3 million viewers on average during its run on Canadian TV. There’s shows airing now on broadcast television that would kill to reach 3 million viewers, heck, that’s more than the average CW show pulled in and those aired forever. 

Netflix Saves Some And Cancels Others

Ironically, Netflix found a gold mine when it saved shows from the networks instead of cancelling them. Another sci-fi mystery series, Manifest, was saved from NBC after it topped the Netflix streaming charts. Deservedly so, as the show about a plane that vanishes for five and a half years, but no one on flight noticed the team pass, is one of the best sci-fi shows of the decade. Lucifer was canceled by Fox after three seasons, until Netflix saved it and let it run for three more. 

Some shows take awhile to find an audience. The Office, Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, Manifest, all of them stumbled when they first aired before either ironing out the kinks for the two former, and hitting streaming for the two latter. Between may have never been a huge hit, but in the age of TikTok, a teen-focused sci-fi survival series has the potential to catch on. Netflix’s lack of patience means we’ll never know, and let’s be honest, we’d all love to know before starting a series if it has a proper ending or not. Netflix, my mom is right, get on that.